35/3 


Goodman 
The  game  of  chess 


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LOS  ANGELES 


STAGE   GUILD   PLAYS 
THE  GAME  OF  CHESS 


THE    STAGE    GUILD 
PLAYS    &    MASQUES 

By  Kenneth  Sawyer  Goodman 

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THE  GAME  OF  CHESS 

A  PLAY  IN  ONE  ACT 

BY 

KENNETH  SAWYER  GOODMAN 


NEW  YORK 

VAUGHAN  &  GOMME 
MCMXIV 


Copyright  1914  by 

Kenneth  Sawyer  Goodman 

All  rights  reserved 


NOTICE:  Application  for  permis 
sion  to  perform  this  play  in  the 
United  States  should  be  made  to 
The  Stage  Guild,  Railway  Ex 
change  Building,  Chicago;  and 
application  for  permission  to  per 
form  it  elsewhere  should  be  made 
to  Mr.  B.  Iden  Payne,  The  Gaiety 
Theatre,  Manchester,  England. 
No  performance  of  it  may  take 
place  without  consent  of  the 
owners  of  the  acting  rights. 


<* 


THE  GAME  OF  CHESS  was  first  produced  by  B. 
I  den  Payne  under  the  auspices  of  the  Chicago 
Theatre  Society  at  the  Fine  Arts  Theatre, 
November  i8th,  1913,  with  the  following  caste: 

ALEXIS  ALEXANDROVITCH .  .  .Walter  Hampden 
BoRisIvANOviTCHSHAMRAYEFF  Whitford  Kane 

CONSTANTINE .  . .  .T.  W.  Gibson 

FOOTMAN Howard  Plinge 


....--•-    •-•*    -  - 


THE  GAME  OF  CHESS 

The  Scene  is  a  wainscoted  room  in  the  house  of 
ALEXIS.  High  windows  at  the  back  left; 
at  the  right  back  is  a  double  door  giving 
into  an  ante-room;  against  the  right  wall 
is  a  couch;  in  the  left  wall  near  the  back  is 
a  small  door;  nearer  the  audience,  on  the 
same  wall  a  chimney  breast  with  a  carved 
mantel;  under  the  window,  at  the  back, 
another  couch  and  several  chairs  give  the 
room  a  luxurious  air.  ALEXIS  and  CON- 
STANTINE  are  playing  chess  at  a  small 
table  in  front  of  an  open  fire.  There  is  a 
large  table  in  the  centre  of  the  stage  with 
fruit,  a  flagon  of  wine  and  glasses. 

ALEXIS.     You  seem  to  have  lost  your  cun 
ning,  Constantine. 

CONSTANTINE.      Wait ! 

ALEXIS.     Perhaps  the  pawn? 
CONSTANTINE.     No.     [He  moves.]     So! 

ALEXIS.     Ah,    ha!     That,    eh?     Well,    well! 
The  cunning  is  returning,  is  it? 

(7) 


STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 


[He  strikes  a  little  bell  beside  him 
and  again  scans  the  board.] 

CONSTANTINE.  Is  the  hour  up,  your  excel 
lency  ? 

ALEXIS.  No,  no!  We  still  have  ten  minutes 
to  play. 

CONSTANTINE.  Your  excellency  tires  of  the 
game,  perhaps? 

ALEXIS.  No,  I  never  tire  of  the  game.  When 
I  do  that,  I  shall  tire  of  life  itself.  Chess  is  as 
much  a  gauge  of  a  man's  mental  development  as 
love  or  war  or  politics  or  any  other  game.  When 
I  play  bad  chess,  I  shall  have  ceased  to  be  a  com 
petent  governor.  We  patricians  do  not  justify 
our  lives  by  the  toil  of  our  hands.  We  should 
tune  the  machinery  inside  our  skulls  to  its  high 
est  effectiveness.  We  must  keep  it  tuned  and 
timed  and  oiled.  Ah,  yes,  it  is  that  way  we 
serve.  When  the  machine  balks  or  stops  we  are 
nothing. 

CONSTANTINE.  But  your  excellency  was  think 
ing  of  other  things. 

ALEXIS.  Was  I  so?  Well,  well!  We  shall 
see,  we  shall  see !  I  was  thinking  of  other  things, 
eh?  [He  makes  a  move  swiftly.]  There,  match  me 
that  if  you  can. 

CONSTANTINE.  Ah!  The  one  move  that 
could  have  saved  your  king !  • 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS 


ALEXIS.  There  you  have  it!  I  doze,  I  dream, 
my  mind  wanders,  and  then  it  comes  in  a  flash. 
The  one  move  on  the  board!  It  is  by  such 
flashes  I  know  myself. 

CONSTANTINE.  Your  excellency  has  inspira 
tion. 

ALEXIS.  Perhaps!  But  behind  inspiration, 
always,  the  technique  of  the  game. 

[A  footman  enters.] 

FOOTMAN.     Your  excellency  rang? 
ALEXIS.     Is  the  man,  Shamrayeff,  waiting? 

FOOTMAN.  A  man,  Boris  I  vanovitch  Shamray 
eff,  with  a  letter  from  your  excellency,  is  waiting 
in  the  secretary's  room. 

ALEXIS.  You  may  bring  him  here  in  three 
minutes. 

FOOTMAN.  Pardon,  excellency,  but  the  secre 
tary  wishes  to  know  if  the  orders  received  from 
Mr.  Constantine  are  correct. 

ALEXIS.     What  orders? 

FOOTMAN.  That  the  man,  Boris  I  vanovitch 
Shamrayeff,  is  not  to  be  searched. 

ALEXIS.  There  is  no  occasion  to  search  the 
man.  [FOOTMAN  bows  and  withdraws.] 


10  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

ALEXIS.     [TocoNSTANTiNE.]    Your  move,  my 
dear  Constantine.     We  have  exactly  two  min 
utes  to  finish  the  game  and  one  minute  for 
questions.      [He  lays  his  watch  beside  the  chess 
board.] 

CONSTANTINE.       [Moves.]      So! 

ALEXIS.  Ah!  One  moment!  There!  What 
now?  [He  moves.] 

CONSTANTINE.     This.     [He  moves.] 
ALEXIS.     And  this !     [He  moves.] 

CONSTANTINE.  Ah  ha!  I  could  check-mate 
your  excellency  in  five  more  moves. 

ALEXIS.  The  two  minutes  are  up.  Tell  me, 
you  are  quite  certain  that  your  agents  made  no 
mistake  in  the  matter  of  this  man,  Shamrayeff  ? 

CONSTANTINE.  Quite  certain,  your  excellency. 
I  begged  you  to  have  him  put  under  arrest 
yesterday.  There  is  absolutely  no  question. 
The  man's  entire  history  is  in  your  hands. 

ALEXIS.  And,  in  spite  of  all  this,  I  have 
granted  him  a  personal  interview.  I  have  given 
explicit  orders  that  he  is  not  to  be  searched.  In 
short,  I  must  be  a  fool,  eh? 

CONSTANTINE.  I  cannot  question  your  excel 
lency's  judgment. 


THE     GAME    OF    CHESS  II 

ALEXIS.  Ah,  you  can't  question  my  judg 
ment,  eh?  But  you  think!  I  saw  something 
behind  your  eyes  just  now  when  you  said  you 
would  check-mate  me  in  five  moves.  You  were 
thinking,"  Alexis  Alexandrovitch,  for  all  his 
fine  talk,  is  not  what  he  used  to  be.  Some 
thing  has  slipped  away  from  him."  Do  you 
think  I've  become  a  coward? 

CONST ANTINE.     Your  excellency ! 

ALEXIS.  I  sometimes  think  so,  myself;  that 
sometime  there  will  be  no  flash,  that  I  shall  be 
check-mated  once  and  for  all.  That's  why  I 
keep  you  here,  hour  after  hour,  playing  chess 
with  me;  that's  why  I  am  tempted  to  try  an 
other  kind  of  game  with  this  man,  Shamrayeff . 

CONSTANTINE.  Then  you  have  a  definite 
reason  for  seeing  this  man? 

ALEXIS.     None  that  you  would  understand. 

CONSTANTINE.  But,  in  that  case,  might  I 
point  out  to  your  excellency — Surely  it  would  be 
safer — 

ALEXIS.  Don't  speak  to  me  as  if  you  were 
speaking  to  a  child.  I  know  what  you  think: 
"Alexis  Alexandrovitch  is  not  what  he  was. 
Things  are  slipping  past  him,  he  needs  watch 
ing."  Well,  the  time  is  up.  You  have  your 
orders. 

CONSTANTINE.  Shall  I  take  away  the  chess 
men? 


12  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

ALEXIS.  No,  leave  them  as  they  are.  We'll 
finish  the  game  when  I  ring  for  you.  [CONSTAN 
TINE  rises  and  hesitates.]  Well,  well,  well! 
You're  going  to  say  something.  You  think  the 
game  won't  be  finished.  We'll  see.  We'll  see 
about  that ! 

CONSTANTINE.     I  beg  your  excellency— 

[FOOTMAN  enters,  followed  by  SHAM- 

RAYEFF.] 

FOOTMAN.     Boris  Ivanovitch  Shamrayeff. 

[SHAMRAYEFF  wears  the  clothes  of  a 
respectable  artisan.  He  is,  ap 
parently,  somewhat  younger 
than  ALEXIS,  strongly  built  and 
has  a  rather  fine  but  stolid  face. 
He  stands  with  his  cap  in  his 
hand.] 

ALEXIS.  So,  so!  You  are  Boris  Ivanovitch 
Shamrayeff,  are  you?  Well,  well! 

BORIS.  Yes,  I  am  Boris  Ivanovitch  Sham 
rayeff  ! 

ALEXIS.  You  found  it  hard  to  get  at  me,  did 
you?  Hard  to  get  an  interview  with  Alexis 
Alexandrovitch? 

BORIS.  Not  so  hard  as  I  had  expected,  your 
excellency. 

ALEXIS.        [To    CONSTANTINE    and    FOOTMAN.] 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  13 

Well,  what  are  you  waiting  for?  This  man  has 
something  important  to  say  to  me.  He's  bash 
ful.  He  can't  speak  out  before  so  many  people. 

CONSTANTINE.  Your  excellency,  I  will  wait  in 
the  passage. 

ALEXIS.  Nonsense,  nonsense!  Go  into  the 
garden  and  think  about  your  game,  of  chess! 
Go !  [CONSTANTINE  and  FOOTMAN  go  out.] 

ALEXIS.  [To  BORIS.]  Sit  down  in  that  chair. 
I  want  to  look  at  you.  [BORIS  looks  around  un 
easily.]  Ah!  There  is  no  one  watching  us.  This 
room  is  in  a  corner  of  the  house — nothing  but 
windows  behind  you,  no  balcony,  no  hangings. 
Open  the  door  you  came  in  by — there  is  no  one 
in  the  passage.  Turn  the  key,  if  you  like. 

[BORIS  steps  quickly  to  the  main 
doors,  throws  them  open,  looks 
into  the  passage,  shuts  them 
again,  turns  the  key  in  the  lock 
and  slips  it  into  his  pocket.} 

You  see  we  won't  be  disturbed.  Now,  sit  down 
and  tell  me  what  you  want.  [BORIS  sits  down 
but  says  nothing.]  Tongue-tied,  eh?  You  don't 
know  how  to  begin?  Embarrassed,  eh? 

BORIS.     No.  I  was  only  wondering. 
ALEXIS.     Ha,  ha!     Wondering,  eh? 

BORIS.  I  was  wondering  why  your  excellency 
chose  to  give  me  this  opportunity? 


14  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

ALEXIS.     This  opportunity  ? 

BORIS.  [Looking  up.]  This  opportunity  to 
kill  your  excellency. 

ALEXIS.  So,  so!  To  kill  me?  That's  it,  is 
it?  Well,  well!  I  thought  as  much,  but  of 
course,  I  couldn't  be  sure.  Well,  well!  Go  on, 
go  on! 

BORIS.  [Simply.]  God  has  delivered  you 
into  my  hands. 

ALEXIS.  Pah!  Leave  God  out  of  it !  Don't 
give  me  any  such  cant  nonsense.  I  doubt  if 
God  takes  any  interest  in  either  of  us.  I  have 
delivered  myself  into  your  hands.  That's  the 
simple  fact  of  the  matter.  I  could  have  trapped 
you  so  easily,  too,  but  I  didn't  even  have  you 
searched.  You  may  as  well  take  the  pistol  out 
of  your  pocket. 

BORIS.     Your  excellency  seems  amused. 

ALEXIS.  No,  no,  not  amused!  I'm  only 
curious  to  see  you  handle  the  thing — morbid 
curiosity,  if  you  like.  Take  it  out,  man,  take  it 
out! 

BORIS.  This  is  a  solemn  moment  for  us  both, 
your  excellency. 

ALEXIS.  Solemn,  eh?  Well,  well!  Solemn! 
Oh,  I  suppose  it  is  solemn  for  you,  Boris  Ivano- 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  15 

vitch.     To  me  it  is  simply  curious  grotesque. 
Well,  well! 

BORIS.  [Takes  out  pistol.]  Keep  your  hand 
a  little  further  from  that  bell,  if  you  please. 

ALEXIS.  I  shan't  ring.  You  would  hardly 
wait  for  them  to  answer  the  bell,  would  you? 
No,  no!  I'm  not  such  a  fool  as  to  think  you'd 
do  that?  Well,  well!  I  lift  my  hand  and  you 
shoot. 

BORIS.     Yes. 

ALEXIS.  Exactly.  Well,  I  won't  lift  my 
hand. 

BORIS.  Nothing  on  earth  can  save  you, 
Alexis  Alexandrovitch. 

ALEXIS.  Nor  you,  my  friend,  for  that  matter ! 
You  hardly  expect  to  leave  the  house,  shall  we 
say,  unmolested? 

BORIS.  I  do  not  expect  to  leave  it  alive,  ex 
cellency. 

ALEXIS.  No,  that  would  be  asking  too  much. 
I  was  here  to  let  you  in.  I  won't  be  able  to  let 
you  out  again.  You  will  have  lost  a  useful 
friend,  Boris  Ivanovitch. 

BORIS.     Your  excellency ! 


STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 


ALEXIS.  It  is  in  your  hands  to  end  the  inter 
view.  Come,  come,  you  must  hate  me  a  great 
deal,  my  friend,  to  give  your  own  life  for  the 
sake  of  taking  mine. 

BORIS.     I  do  not  hate  you. 

ALEXIS.  So?  How  odd!  I  thought  that 
everyone  of  your  sort  hated  me.  You  might  at 
least  flatter  me  to  the  extent  of  showing  some 
emotion.  Come,  come,  flatter  me  to  that  extent. 

BORIS.     I  do  not  care  to  flatter  you. 

ALEXIS.  Ah,  well,  well!  I  shall  have  to  do 
without  it  then. 

BORIS.  My  own  feelings  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  I  am  an  instrument  of  God. 

ALEXIS.  God  again!  What  has  God  to  do 
with  it?  Do  you  happen  to  play  a  good  game 
of  chess? 

BORIS.  [Nervously.]  Why  do  you  ask  me 
such  a  thing? 

ALEXIS.  Because  you  '  interrupted  a  game 
here.  Constantine  threatened  me  with  check 
mate  in  five  more  moves.  Check-mate  in  five 
moves  !  No,  no  !  Not  so  easy  as  that  ! 

BORIS.  I  have  had  enough  of  your  jestings, 
excellency. 


THE    GAME     OF     CHESS  17 

ALEXIS.  You  wont  play  then?  Well,  well! 
I  had  promised  myself  to  finish  the  game.  We 
shall  see!  We  shall  see! 

BORIS.  Surely  your  excellency  has  some 
thing  you  wish  to  say— 

ALEXIS.  I  have  told  you  once,  when  you  tire 
of  the  interview  it  is  in  your  hands  to  end  it. 
What  are  you  waiting  for?  You  become  tedi 
ous! 

BORIS.  Have  you  no  desire  to  pray,  excel 
lency? 

ALEXIS.  Pray?  Pray?  Who  would  listen 
to  me?  No,  I'd  rather  chat. 

BORIS.     As  your  excellency  likes. 

i 

ALEXIS.  Yes,  yes,  we'll  chat  until  you  gather 
courage  to  do  what  you  came  for. 

BORIS.  It  takes  no  courage  to  kill  a  thing  like 
you. 

ALEXIS.  It  takes  a  certain  kind  of  courage  to 
kill — rats. 

BORIS.     I  have  been,  chosen,  excellency. 

ALEXIS.  So,  so!  The  lot  fell  on  you,  did  it? 
The  honor !  The  distinction !  You  look  at  it  in 
that  way,  don't  you?  Like  the  rest  of  your 
kind,  you  have  political  ideas,  eh? 


18  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

BORIS.     I  have  no  political  ideas. 

ALEXIS.  No  political  ideas?  Well,  well! 
No  personal  hatred?  Pray  explain  yourself, 
man. 

BORIS.  I  am  a  peasant.  My  father  and  my 
father's  father  were  peasants.  You  are  a  noble. 
Your  line  runs  back  to  Tartar  princes.  It  is  a 
matter  of  centuries  of  pain  and  slavery  against 
centuries  of  oppression  and  violence.  I  take  no 
account  of  today,  only  of  yesterday  and  tomor 
row.  Your  acts  have  been  cruel  and  harsh, 
doubtless.  I  hardly  know.  I  throw  them  out 
of  the  scale.  I  throw  out  my  own  sufferings. 
They  are  not  enough  in  themselves  to  tip  the 
balance.  You  and  I  are  nothing.  It  is  caste 
against  caste.  I  gave  myself  to  the  revolu 
tionary  party,  yes !  I  am  their  agent  as  you  say, 
but  I  know  little  of  their  ideas  for  Russia.  I 
care  less.  I  only  know  that  the  band  to  which 
I  belong  represents  the  struggle  which  I  feel  in 
my  own  breast.  I  am  their  willing  tool.  I  do 
their  will  because  the  right  of  vengeance  comes 
down  to  me  in  the  blood. 

ALEXIS.     Yes,  yes !     A  fanatic ! 
BORIS.     It  is  my  order  against  yours. 

ALEXIS.  Ah,  your  order  against  mine,  eh? 
Centuries  of  pain  against  centuries  of  oppres 
sion.  Well,  well!  You  set  aside  to-day,  do 
you?  You  throw  your  own  little  pains  and 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  IQ 

penalties  out  of  the  scale  on  one  side,  and  my 
little  tyrannies  and  floggings  and  acts  of  vil 
lainy  out  on  the  other?  You  see  yourself  only 
as  the  avenger  of  a  caste  against  a  caste.  The 
right  of  vengeance  and  the  need  of  it  comes  down 
to  you  in  the  blood,  does  it?  You're  exalted 
by  the  breath  of  dead  peasants,  are  you?  It's 
because  of  that  and  only  because  of  it  that  you 
take  pride  in  the  work  you  have  set  your  hand 
to.  Huh!  Grotesque!  You  strike  the  air 
with  a  rod  of  smoke.  You've  stumbled  upon 
the  essence  of  the  inane.  You're  about  to 
commit  a  fantastic  mockery  of  Justice. 

BORIS.     I  have  held  my  hand  too  long! 

ALEXIS.  Wait!  There  is  still  something  to 
be  said;  something  for  you  to  think  of  in  the 
moment  between  the  time  you  take  my  life  and 
the  time  you  take  your  own.  You  are  about 
to  kill  the  man  you  might  have  been  yourself. 
You  are  about  to — I,  and  not  you,  am  Boris 
Ivanovitch. 

BORIS.     What  rubbish  are  you  talking  now? 
ALEXIS.     You  are  Alexis  Alexandrovitch! 
BORIS.     Why !     You  are  mad ! 

ALEXIS.  Wait !  When  you  were  a  child,  you 
had  a  foster-brother.  You  ran  with  him  in  the 
fields.  You  slept  by  his  side  at  night.  You 
fought  with  him  over  rough  toys  and  bits  of 


20  STAGE     GUILD     PLAYS 

food.  When  you  were  seven  years  old,  a  man 
on  horse-back  came  and  took  him  away.  You 
never  knew  his  true  parentage  and  your  father 
flogged  you  when  you  cried  for  him.  Can  you 
remember  that? 

BORIS.     Aye,  I  can  remember  that  well. 

ALEXIS.  Your  father  deserted  your  mother 
the  following  year.  A  little  later  she  died.  She 
told  you  nothing  of  the  other  child.  You  went 
to  Kieff,  to  the  house  of  your  uncle,  and  became 
apprenticed  to  a  bootmaker. 

BORIS.  Leave  off!  You  can't  mystify  me  by 
telling  me  the  story  of  my  own  life.  It  proves 
nothing.  Your  agents  have  ways  of  knowing 
such  things :  what  I  was,  what  I  am,  everything. 

ALEXIS.  Yes!  Leave,  all  that!  As  you  say, 
it  proves  nothing.  Yet  we  are  foster-brothers, 
you  and  I . 

BORIS.     A  sign! 

ALEXIS.  Our  good  mother  was  endowed 
with  a  grim  sense  of  humor.  She  sent  her  own 
boy  to  be  reared  as  the  son  of  princes,  and  the 
little  aristocrat,  left  with  her  for  safety  at  the 
time  of  the  Makaroff  meeting,  she  sent  to — 
well,  you  know  to  what  sort  of  a  life  she  sent 
him. 

BORIS.     Give  me  a  sign ! 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  21 

ALEXIS.     I  have  no  sign  to  give  you. 

BORIS.  Ah,  ah!  What  else?  What  else 
have  you  to  tell  me? 

ALEXIS.  I,  and  not  you,  am  the  son  of  peas 
ants.  Do  you  see  now  why  I  call  your  errand 
grotesque? 

BORIS.  Lies!  Lies!  Lies!  What  do  you 
expect  to  gain  by  telling  me  such  lies? 

ALEXIS.     Nothing. 

BORIS.  Do  you  expect  me  to  believe  you? 
Do  you  expect  me  to  embrace  you  and  clap  my 
hat  on  my  head  and  toss  this  pistol  out  the 
window  and  tell  you  to  do  what  you  like  with 
me? 

ALEXIS.  I  expect  nothing.  I  know  that  I 
am  one  dead  man  talking  to  another. 

BORIS.  I  can't  fathom  you.  I  know  there 
must  be  some  trick  up  your  sleeve,  but  I  can't 
fathom  you. 

ALEXIS.  There  is  no  trick.  You  asked  me 
why  I  chose  to  give  you  this  opportunity  to  kill 
me.  I'm  telling  you.  That's  all. 

BORIS.     Lies!     Utterly  useless  lies ! 

ALEXIS.     No!     Utterly    useless    truth!     Do 


22  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

you  think  I  wish  to  believe  myself  Boris  Ivano- 
vitch  Shamrayeff,  born  a  peasant?  I,  who  have 
sat  in  high  places  and  given  my  life  to  preserv 
ing  an  order  of  men  to  which  I  do  not  belong, 
which  my  blood  ought  to  cry  out  against.  Do 
you  think  I  would  have  believed  it  if  the  belief 
had  not  been  forced  upon  me?  I  have  ways  of 
knowing  truth  from  falsehood,  my  friend.  You 
are  striking  at  a  man  who  is  dead  before  you 
touch  him.  What  I  have  found  out  in  the  past 
week,  others  already  know.  I  have  come  to  the 
end,  I  tell  you.  I  have  been  a  fantastic  dupe. 
I  cannot  go  on.  I  would  have  killed  myself  to 
day,  but  I  have  a  horror  of  taking  my  own  life. 
You  have  come  in  time  to  save  me  from  that. 

BORIS.  Was  that  your  only  reason  for  seeing 
me? 

ALEXIS.  I  admit  I  was  curious  to  see  another 
man  who  had  been  as  great  a  dupe  as  myself. 

BORIS.  Lies!  Lies!  What  else?  Have  you 
anything  more  to  say? 

ALEXIS.  I  only  ask  you  to  finish  your  work. 
Unless  you  have  a  scruple  against  killing  your— 
In  which  case,  go !  The  door  is  still  open  to  you. 

BORIS.  [Sneering.]  Very  pretty!  Very  touch 
ing!  Go  back,  eh?  And  tell  my  comrades  that 
I  let  Alexis  the  Red  slip  through  my  fingers  be 
cause  he  told  me  a  child's  story  of  changeling 
foster-brothers?  No.no!  [He  cocks  his  pistol.] 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  23 

ALEXIS.     Kill  me,  then! 

[BORIS  raises  the  pistol.] 

BORIS.     I— 

ALEXIS.     Pull  the  trigger,  man! 

BORIS.  I  can't.  There's  a  chance  that  what 
you  have  said  may  be  true  after  all.  [He  lays 
down  the  pistol.]  And  yet,  I  can't  live  if  it's 
false.  And,  by  God,  I  can't  live  if  it's  true! 

ALEXIS.     In  either  case,  we  must  both  die. 

BORIS.  Aye,  you  speak  the  truth  there,  but 
I  dare  not  kill  you.  I  tell,  you,  I  dare  not! 
There  must  be  some  way  out !  Some  other  way ! 

ALEXIS.  Are  you  brave  enough  to  take  poi 
son?  Yes!  Good!  Do  you  see  this  ring?  I 
press  a  spring,  so.  There  is  a  fine  powder  under 
the  stone,  so!  I  drop  a  few  grains  into  one  of 
these  glasses.  We  draw  lots.  One  of  us  drinks 
the  wine  and  the  other  still  has  your  pistol  to 
use!  It  is  very  simple  after  all. 

BORIS.  [#i.se.s.]  Yah!  Now,  by  God,  I  see 
the  trick !  Lies !  Lies !  Every  word  of  it  was 
lies!  I  can  see  through  you  now.  You're 
devilishly  cunning  with  your  sleight-of-hand, 
but  I  draw  no  lots  for  poison  with  the  like  of  you. 

ALEXIS.  Have  it  your  own  way.  See,  there's 
more  than  enough  for  both.  Take  the  glass 


24  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

in  your  own  hands,  divide  it  yourself,  pour  the 
wine  yourself,  and  then,  to  satisfy  you,  I'll 
drink  first. 

BORIS.  You  carry  the  bluff  to  the  bitter  end, 
do  you?  Well,  we'll  see. 

[He  mixes  the  powder  and  pours  the 
wine  and  hands  one  glass  to 
ALEXIS.] 

ALEXIS.     To  your  easy  death,  brother. 

[He  lifts  the  glass  and  drinks.] 

BORIS.  Ah!  So  you're  a  brave  man  after 
all!  [He  lifts  the  glass  and  pauses.]  What  if  I 
were  to  leave  you  now,  eh? 

ALEXIS.  My  men  have  orders  to  seize  you 
the  moment  you  leave  the  room. 

BORIS.  In  that  case!  [He  lifts  the  glass.]  To 
your  final  redemption,  brother! 

ALEXIS.     Sit  down!     [BORIS  sits  down.\ 
BORIS.     Have  we  long  to  wait? 

ALEXIS.  Perhaps  five  minutes.  It's  a  Chi 
nese  concoction.  They  call  it  the  draught  of 
final  oblivion.  I  believe  it  to  be  painless.  I'm 
told  that  one  becomes  numb.  Do  you  find 
yourself  becoming  drowsy  ? 

BORIS.     No.     My  senses  seem  to  be  becom- 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  25 

ing  more  alert.     Your  voice  sounds  very  sharp 
and  clear. 

ALEXIS.     Lift  your  hand. 

BORIS.  It  seems  very  heavy.  Are  you 
afraid  of  Death,  excellency? 

ALEXIS.  [Eyeing  him  sharply.}  No,  I  am 
not  afraid  of  Death,  brother,  not  in  the  least. 

BORIS.     Nor  I ! 

ALEXIS.     Good!     Now,  move  your  feet. 

BORIS.  I  don't  seem  to  be  able  to.  That's 
strange.  I  can't  feel  anything. 

ALEXIS.  Nor  I !  Can  you  get  out  of  your 
chair? 

BORIS  [Slowly]  I — I  can  hardly  move  my 
hand.  I  might  move  by  a  supreme  effort  but 
I  haven't  the  will.  I — I  feel  no  pain,  only  a 
ringing  in  my  head. 

ALEXIS.  So?  Well,  well!  Can  you  still 
hear  perfectly? 

BORIS.     Yes — yes,   I  can  still  hear. 
ALEXIS.     H'm,  h'm. 

BORIS.  Tell  me,  on  your  hope  of  redemption, 
was  what  you  said  to  me  just  now  the  truth? 


26  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 

ALEXIS.     On  my  hope  of  redemption,  eh? 
BORIS.     If  it  was,  I  ask  you  to  forgive  me. 
ALEXIS.     I  have  nothing  to  forgive. 
BORIS.     Thanks! 

ALEXIS.  On  my  hope  of  redemption,  Boris 
Shamrayeff,  everything  I  told  you  was  lies! 
Lies!  Lies!  [BORIS  struggles  painfully  to  his  feet 
and  lurches  toward  the  table, 
where  he  has  laid  the  pistol. 
ALEXIS  springs  to  the  table, 
seizes  the  pistol  and  tosses  it 
out  of  the  window.  BORIS  sup 
ports  himself  against  the  edge  of 
table,  half  sitting,  half  leaning 
against  it,  his  mouth  open,  his 
eyes  staring.  He  sways  dizzily. 
ALEXIS  stands  before  him.} 

ALEXIS.     Well,  you  can  still  speak,  can't  you? 

BORIS.  You  fiend!  You  dog!  You  liar! 
Ha,  ha,  ha!  At  least  you  can't  escape!  No 
need  for  me  to  strike  you ! 

ALEXIS.     Ha,  ha! 

BORIS.  Well !  Sneer  at  me  if  you  like.  You 
are  feeling  the  agony  too,  Alexis  Alexandro- 
vitch.  You  can't  deny  it. 

ALEXIS.     I  am  not  dying,  Boris  Shamrayeff. 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  27 

BORIS.  But,  I  know!  I  saw!  I  saw  you 
drink!  You're  dying,  excellency! 

ALEXIS.  Yes,  we  drank  together,  didn't  we? 
Well,  well!  And  your  eye  wasn't  off  me  an 
instant,  was  it?  And  you  didn't  lift  your  cup 
till  I'd  drained  the  last  drop  of  mine,  did  you? 
Well,  well,  well! 

BORIS.     I  saw  you  drink  what  I  drank. 

ALEXIS.  Yes,  I  did  drink  it,  Boris  Ivano- 
vitch,  didn't  I  ?  But  what  is  sending  you  down 
to  fry  in  Hell  with  the  stupid  ghosts  of  your 
bestial  ancestors  is  only  embarrassing  me  with 
the  slightest  of  headaches.  [He  chuckles.] 

BORIS.     It — it  is  not  possible! 

ALEXIS.  Eh?  An  oriental  trick.  A  man  in 
constant  fear  of  poison  may  accustom  himself, 
little  by  little,  to  a  dose  that  would  blast  the  life 
of  an  ordinary  man.  A  fantastic  precaution 
these  days,  only  interesting  to  an  antiquarian 
like  myself.  Well,  well,  you  can  hear  me,  can't 
you?  I  tell  you  I  could  have  taken  the  entire 
mess;  half  of  it  seems  to  have  been  enough  for 
you.  [BORIS  makes  an  effort  to  get  at 

ALEXIS  but  almost  sinks  to  the 

floor.] 

No  use,   Boris  Shamrayeff!     I   advise  you   to 
hold  fast  to  the  table. 


28  STAGE    GUILD    PLAYS 


BORIS.  Why?  Why  have  you  done  this 
thing  to  me? 

ALEXIS.  Body  of  St.  Michael !  I  am  of  one 
order,  you  of  another.  You  are  a  terrorist,  a 
Red;  the  blood  of  my  brother,  shot  down  in  the 
streets  of  Kronstadt,  the  lives  of  my  friends,  the 
preservation  of  the  sacred  empire — are  these 
nothing?  Nothing — beside  your  dirty  peti 
tions  of  right!  Pah!  God  has  delivered  YOU 
into  MY  hands.  I,  and  not  you,  am  the  instru 
ment  of  God  to-day!  Boris  Ivanovitch,  can 
you  still  hear  me?  Eh? 

BORIS.     Yes! 

ALEXIS.  So!  So!  One  thing  more!  Why 
did  I  risk  my  own  life  to  get  yours?  You  would 
like  to  know  that,  wouldn't  you?  Why  did  I 
let  you  in  here  at  all?  You'd  ask  that  if  you 
could.  Ha,  ha!  Well,  it  was  because  men 
were  thinking  that  Alexis  Alexandrovitch  wasn't 
what  he  used  to  be;  because  I  was  beginning  to 
think  so  myself.  Because  I  had  begun  to  doubt 
my  own  wits.  I  had  to  let  myself  be  brought 
to  bay.  I  had  to  look  into  the  muzzle  of  your 
pistol.  I  had  to  pit  my  life  against  yours  in  a 
struggle  where  I  had  no  other  weapon,  no  other 
help,  than  this.  [He  taps  his  forehead.]  I  think 
it  unlikely  that  Constantine  will  check-mate 
me  in  five  moves  today! 

BORIS.  Fiend!  Fiend!  Fiend!  [He crumples 
up  and  falls  to  the  floor.] 


THE    GAME    OF    CHESS  2Q 

ALEXIS.  So,  it's  over,  is  it?  Well,  well, 
well!  [He  takes  a  cover  from  the  couch  and 

throws  it  over  BORIS  and  stands 
over  him.] 

ALEXIS.  [As  if  exorcising  a  ghost.]  To  the 
night  without  stars!  To  the  mist  that  never 
lifts!  To  the  bottom  of  nothingness!  Peace 
be  with  you! 

[He  turns  and  taps  the  bell  and  then 
seats  himself  at  the  chessboard. 
The  FOOTMAN  enters.] 

FOOTMAN.     Your  excellency  rang? 

ALEXIS.  Go  into  the  garden  and  find  Mr. 
Constantine.  Tell  him  I  am  ready  to  finish 
our  game  of  chess. 

[The  FOOTMAN  bows  and  with 
draws.] 

ALEXIS.     [Studying   the   moves   on   the   chess 
board.]     So!     So!     The  bishop — the  queen! 
No!     Yes,  yes!     I  have  it!     I  have  it!     Body 
of  St.  Michael,  not  in  five  moves,  not  in  five 
moves  tonight!    Ah!     Ha,  ha!     So!  So!    Well, 
well,  well! 

[He  rubs  his  hands  softly  and  looks 
up  just  as  CONSTANTINE  enters.] 

CURTAIN. 


This  first  edition  of  THE  GAME  OF  CHESS,  printed 
from  type  by  The  Lancaster  Printing  Com 
pany,  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  in  April, 
1914,  for  VAUGHAN  &  GOMME,  New  York, 
consists  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  copies 
on  Japanese  Vellum,  of  which  one  hun 
dred  only  are  for  sale,  and  one  thousand 
and  fifty  copies  on  laid  paper. 


ADVERTISEMENT 


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announcing  that  they  have  perfected  an 
arrangement  whereby,  in  future,  they 
will  act  as  publishers  for  THE  STAGE 
GUILD,  Railway  Exchange  Building,  Chi 
cago.  All,  or  nearly  all  future  plays, 
masques,  etc.,  produced  by  THE  STAGE 
GUILD  will  be  printed  and  published  by 
Messrs.  VAUGHAN  62  GOMME,  and  they 
will  act  as  agents  to  the  book-trade  and 
to  the  public  for  the  distribution  of  the 
single  plays  in  paper  wrappers,  and  later 
in  book  form. 

The  editorial  management  of  THE  STAGE  GUILD 
will,  however,  continue  with  headquar 
ters  in  the  Railway  Exchange  Building, 
Chicago,  where  all  applications  for 
permission  to  perform  the  plays  and 
masques,  and  other  inquiries  of  a  kin 
dred  nature,  should  be  addressed,  as 
heretofore. 


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